Patch for shoe-soles.



J, W. BRITTON. PATCH FOR SHOE $011158. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6, 1 .910.

959,804. Patented May 24,1910

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JOSEPH W. BRITTON, OF MARTINSVILLE, INDIANA.

PATCH iron SHOE-SOLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 24:, 1910.

Application filed January 6, 1910. Serial No. 536,662.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrrr W. BRITToN, citizenof the United States, residing at Martinsville, in the county of Morgan and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Patches for Shoe-Soles, of which the following is a speci fication.

The present invention is in the nature of a patch for the soles of boots, shoes, and other articles of foot wear, the said patch enabling a sole to be repaired after being worn without the necessity of resorting to either of the usual operations of resoling or half-soling.

The object of the invention is the provision of a simple and-inexpensive patch which can be readily applied to a sole so as to fill in any holes and reinforce the worn portions surrounding the holes, and thereby prolong the life of an old sole and cause it to wear substantially as long as a new sole.

The invention further contemplates a patch which can be secured to the sole of a shoe without the use of nails or tacks, and which can be applied with equal facility either to the edge or some central portion of the sole.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain constructions and arrangements of the parts as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claim.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an inverted perspective view of a shoe showing the patch as applied to the tip of the sole thereof. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of a shoe having patches applied to the tip, edge, and a central portion thereof, the patch at the edge of the sole having not been trimmed away. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detached perspective view of the patch, and Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a sole having one of the patches applied to the central portion thereof.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawing by the same reference characters.

For the purpose of illustration, the invention is illustrated as applied to the sole of a shoe, the shoe shown in Fig. 1 having the tip of the sole 1 thereof worn away and a patch 2 being applied thereto. This patch 2, which is illustrated more clearly in Fig. 4 may be formed of any suitable material such as leather, and preferably has a sym metrical form, being shown in the present instance as circular in shape. The body portion of the patch has a thickness substantially the same as the thickness of the shoe sole and is surrounded by an annular flange 3 which gradually decreases in thickness toward the outer edge thereof. The said flange 3 is disposed adjacent one of the faces of the body portion of the patch and the edge of the patch forms a shoulder 4 adjacent the opposite face thereof.

Should the sole be worn away at the tip, as indicated in Fig. 1, the worn portion of the sole would be accurately trimmed either by hand or by some suitable machine so as to receive a portion of the patch 2 and fit against the shoulder 4 thereof. A portion of the flange 3 would extend under the worn portions of the sole and the tapered formation of this flange would enable it to reinforce the said worn portions of the sole and cause them to project outwardly flush with the unworn portions of the sole and have the same effective thickness thereof.

The patch may be secured in position by any suitable means such as the short wooden pegs 5 which engage the flange 3 thereof, and the surplus portions of the patch may then be trimmed away so as to leave the sole with the proper configuration. The portion of the patch constituting the edge of the sole would be secured to the body portion 6 of the shoe by stitching or other suitable means.

' The sole 7 of the shoe illustrated in Fig. 2 is shown as having an opening 8 worn in the central port-ion thereof, a portion 9 worn at the tip thereof, and a portion 10 worn at one edge thereof. The opening 8 worn at the central portion of the sole would be accurately trimmed so as to correspond in shape to the body portion of the patch but be just a trifle smaller than the same. The patch 2 would be used in its entirety and might be softened by soaking in water so that the flange 3 thereof could be folded rearwardly and inserted through the opening 8. After the patch had thus been placed in position it might be flattened out by hammering so as to spread the top of the patch and remove all lumps or unevenness which might tend to hurt the foot of the wearer.

Any suitable means such as the pegs 11 could be employed for securing the patch in position, and as previously described the tapering form of the flange 3 of the patch would fit under and reinforce the worn edges of the opening 8 so that the sole of the shoe would have a uniform thickness throughout and would wear substantially as well as an entirely new sole. In Fig. 5, one of the patches 2 is shown as applied to the central portion of a sole l2 and secured in position by means of the stitching 13. The patch 2 at the tip of the sole 7 in Fig. 2 is inserted in position and trimmed away substantially as previously described in connection with Fig. l, and is shown as secured to the sole both by the pegs 14 and the stitching 15. A worn portion in the side of a sole, such as that indicated at 10, would be trimmed so as to fit accurately against the shoulder 4 of a patch, and the patch would then be applied to the sole and the surplus portions thereof trimmed away as previously described. These patches may be made in various sizes so as to be applied to either large or small worn portions in a shoe sole, and may be secured in position by any suit able means such as cement, pegs, stitching, or the like.

It will thus be obvious that I have provided a patch which can be readily applied to worn portions of an old sole and which will fill in any openings in the old sole and reinforce the worn portions thereof so that the old sole will-wear substantially as long as a new sole.

It will be understood, of course, that the patch can be nailed in position if desired, and that it can be fastened without connecting to the insole and making the bottom of the shoe rigid or stiff.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A patch for the soles of articles of foot wear, said patch comprising a symmetrically shaped body portion adapted to fill in a worn away portion of the sole and formed with an annular tapering flange adapted to extend under and reinforce the surrounding edges of the sole, a shoulder being formed upon the body portion of the patch for abutting against the edges of the said worn away portion of the sole.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH W. BRITTON.

Witnesses:

ROBERT PI-IELrs, ARTHUR J. MIOHELI. 

